North African Flavors and a Hike!

So, today was a day that Sean and I decided to wrestle away from all the crazy schedules and to-do lists. We just survived a move, and work hadn’t slowed down for it one bit. Now that we have gotten ourselves pretty well unpacked and nested for the most part, we needed a day just for family. So, we declared Monday a school-free/work-free day to just BE. We gardened, we played and we did one of our family’s favorite activities…we hiked!

But wait! We didn’t leave until 1pm for a six mile hike…..I didn’t want dinner to sneak up on me and stress me out. It was totally a day for making the kitchen gadgets work for me. Enter the crock pot!

I chopped up some potatoes and added red onions.

Now for the unexpected: peaches!

The frozen peaches are going to be a beautiful component to play with the savory spices I’m about to add. But first, add some more sweet with 2 tablespoons of honey and a cup of apple juice.

Add in 5 cloves of minced garlic and two chopped tomatoes.

Top with 4 chicken breasts (as you can see, I simply plopped in some frozen chicken for ease). Then for the the spices. Add in 1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon, 1 teaspoon dry mustard, and 4 pods of cardamon.

Just break open the husks of the pods and dump out the seeds for maximum flavor.

You are set, just give it a hit of 1 teaspoon of black pepper and a heavy dose of salt (the potatoes are gonna need it!).

All set…time to hit the trails! I love living on the Central Coast!

With a 10 minute drive, we were in paradise!

The kids were immediately on an adventure.

Even Ash got to join in on the fun….in true SLO fashion! I mean, this is dog central…and isn’t she a beautiful Border Collie (and Sean is looking pretty ruggedly handsome, too 🙂 ).

The best part is what you find on hikes out here, especially when I compare it with my hikes when I lived in LA. Check out the litter 🙂

And the whimsy we found in the trees.

There was magic everywhere we looked.

Haha and I loved that my 8 year old is so unaccustomed to graffiti that he pointed it out and had a sneaking suspicion that it might be left there by the ancient Chumash. So awesome. He thought it was beautiful!

I was so proud of my little explorers who brought along their sacks and notebooks for the hike. Such cool kids lovin’ nature!

By the end, we were all tuckered out. I was soooo glad that we had dinner waiting!

Mmmmmm delish…hot and full of flavor! Such a peaceful ending to a peaceful day!

Bon apetit!

~Chanda

Print

North African Style Chicken Stew

Ingredients

4chicken breasts (or use thighs)

5cloves of garlicminced

4large potatoes

2tomatoes chopped

1bag of frozen peach slices

1cupapple juice

2 tbsphoney

1large red onion chopped

1 1/2tspcinnamon

4 pods of cardamon seeds only

1 tsp dry mustard

1 tspblack pepper

salt to taste

Instructions

Combine all the ingredients in a crock pot and let the magic happen. Cook on high setting for 3-4 hours.

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Zest it Up is a lifestyle company focused on turning everyday into special moments through DIY, great food and beautiful design. We are Sam and Chanda, the creators and Zestors behind Zest it Up.
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